A trio of Donald Trump-endorsed Republicans suffered primary defeats to GOP rivals in South Carolina, Colorado and Utah on Tuesday in a blow to the former president's authority.
The Context
Trump became the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential candidate in March following a string of primary victories over his party rivals, making him the de facto GOP leader and likely setting up a rematch of his bitter 2020 contest against Joe Biden.
Since leaving the White House the former president has used his influence within the Republican Party to back a range of GOP politicians in primaries. However this has had mixed results with some of those endorsed by Trump, such as Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Herschel Walker in Georgia, going on to lose high-profile contests to Democrats.
What We Know
In South Carolina Trump-endorsed candidate Mark Burns narrowly lost to rival Sheri Biggs, by 49 percent of the vote against 51 percent, in the Republican primary runoff for the state's 3rd Congressional District according to Decision Desk HQ.
However, while Trump didn't endorse Biggs, she was backed by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a Trump ally, and included photos of herself with the former president on her campaign website. Biggs will go on to face Democrat Byron Best in November as the pair contest what has traditionally been a Republican-leaning district.
Trump-endorsed Republican Dave Williams lost the GOP primary for Colorado's 5th Congressional District to Jeff Crank. As of 2:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Decision Desk HQ figures show Crank had 66 percent of the vote against 34 percent for Williams, with 81 percent of votes counted. The Hill has called the race for Crank.
Crank, who works for political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, had been endorsed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Whip Tom Emmer. The district backed Trump by 10 points during the 2020 presidential election, making Crank the favorite in November.
Finally a Decision Desk HQ projection shows Rep. John Curtis will be the Republican candidate to succeed Senator Mitt Romney in Utah having beaten Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, who was endorsed by Trump.
Curtis is generally seen as a House GOP moderate having backed the Respect for Marriage Act, which protected same-sex marriage at the federal level, and refusing to sign an amicus brief backing a lawsuit challenging the 2020 presidential election outcome. He had endorsements from fellow Utah Republican Rep. Blake Moore and the Forward Party, a centrist group founded by former Democrat Andrew Yang. Curtis is now the strong favorite to win the staunchly Republican seat in November.
Newsweek contacted Donald Trump representatives for comment by email outside of regular office hours on Wednesday.
Separately, Lauren Boebert, who currently sits in the House as representative of Colorado's third congressional district, was on Tuesday selected to contest its more traditionally conservative fourth district in November. Decision Desk HQ called the contest for Boebert who had 43.4 percent of the vote, against 14.4 percent for her nearest challenger, as of 3:40 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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